New Year’s Eve in The Big Apple

We’ve spent the past two New Year’s Eves with the Slavins in Connecticut. That is a tradition we love and look forward to all year. So when the Slavins decided to head to Australia for the holidays, we were lost as to how to spend our NYE without them, all alone, on the other side of the planet, far far away from our favorite Aussie-American family. How dare they?! (actually, we didn’t blame them one bit, we’d jump right on the plane with them if we could swing it. plus, they have their new baby boy Callan to show off to all of their Australian friends and relatives. and there is the allure of the sunny Australian beach Christmas pulling them over there to the other side of the earth. really, who could blame them?)

Given that we fully expect to spend most every other NYE with the Slavins, we didn’t want to do anything too precedent-setting this year. But we also didn’t want to just let NYE pass us by either. We decided that we would spend New Year’s Eve Day in New York City. And we are so glad we did! NYE in NYC! The last day of the year in The Big Apple!

Our day trip was designed with a mission: to see firsthand the precise place where the ball drops in Times Square on New Year’s Eve.

We parked at our usual place in Hoboken, then took the train the rest of the way in, purposefully planning to get off a few blocks away from Times Square so that we could do some sight-seeing and city-walking. Much to the bambinos’ delight, we took a route that passed right by Macy’s famous holiday window displays. The last time we did the Macy’s holiday windows was 2006, Meera wasn’t born yet, and K & O don’t even remember it. Those windows sort of take your breath away… you can’t help but be just blown away by them. And they seem to get more and more elaborate all the time. Truly amazing.

Along our route we also encountered an awesome street drummer (K & O have always loved this kind of drumming, especially since their 5th Birthday Party). The bambinos rocked out to the drumming, dancing in the street for all the world to see. Soon enough it was not clear who the crowd was watching more– the drummer, or our kids.

Side note: interestingly enough, as we began to walk away a young Asian guy very pointedly asked Kyle and Owen a question. They didn’t seem to understand what he was asking, and I couldn’t hear him over the drumming, so I went closer to try to make out what was going on. He was smiling and looking very friendly asking Kyle and Owen, “Is that drummer your father?” And K & O were looking at him in complete bewilderment, not having any idea how to respond. I quickly cleared it up by saying very clearly, “No! That is not their father! THAT [pointing to Braydon, who was right there with us] is their father!!!” The guy looked stunned and said, “No way!” And I said, “Yes way!” K & O wanted to know what that was all about, and as I explained it to them, we all sort of laughed and shook our heads. (what else are we supposed to do?) The point of this story is not that anything too strange or disturbing occurred (we get this kind of thing all the time, we are used to it), but rather that it even happens right smack dab in the middle of one of the most racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse places on the planet.

Anyhooo… moving on…

A day in NYC just wouldn’t be a day in NYC without hot dogs from a street vendor (or, more accurately, it just wouldn’t be a day in NYC without us buying hotdogs for our kids from a street vendor)~~

Eventually we found it: the place where the New Year’s Eve ball drops in Times Square~~

Times Square is always crazy, but it was even crazier than usual on New Year’s Day. We were shocked by how many people were already staking out their spots for the night, how much police presence there was on the ground, and how intense the energy there was already. We had to keep Meera on Braydon’s shoulders because the crowd was already too thick for her to be able to manage walking. We didn’t stay long, but it was very cool to see the precise location where we’d watch the ball drop on our t.v. later that night!

Next we headed downtown, in pursuit of a dumpling feast at one of our favorite restaurants on earth. And, much to the thrill of the bambinos, we got to ride the subway to Chinatown!!! (For them, the trip to NYC would be worth it just to ride the subway.)

I don’t think we’ve ever brought the bambinos into the city without stopping in at Joe’s Shanghai. They’ve grown up eating there. And they know, full well, it is worth the wait. This time, it was a 40 minute wait. We don’t even bat an eye at that — 40 minutes goes by in a flash when you’re in the middle of Chinatown! So much to see and do.

And then, the dumplings. We ordered 4 steamer-baskets of dumplings this time (we learned from our last visit that 3 was not enough). I cannot describe the eating frenzy that is K & O eating Joe’s Shanghai soup dumplings. They love those things like there is no tomorrow. It is an acquired taste, and Meera is officially acquiring it. After the 4 orders of dumplings were totally devoured (plus our usual string beans and noodles), K & O declared that “next time we need to order 5!” That is a lot of dumplings.

Before we knew it, the day was ending and it was time to head home. Our strategy was to get out of the city before things got too wild. As we were getting off the train in Hoboken to head to our car, we stopped to talk to some cops who were on the street gearing up for a very busy night with their police-dogs. As the bambinos checked out the dogs the cops joked with Braydon and I about how we were making a good move by getting out of there when we were. While it still feels like quite a new era of our lives (heading home for New Year’s Eve), we would not trade it for the world. And while it was definitely humbling on New Year’s Eve to be walking away from the city (literally and figuratively), and going against the crowd (literally and figuratively), there was nothing we would have rather been doing.

5:00 pm, New Year’s Eve 2011, the J-Ms head home~~

And so, we went home, got Meera to bed, played checkers and did mazes, and played a rousing game of ‘HORSE’-basketball in the kitchen. We then spent the last couple hours of 2011 sitting in our family room drinking champagne (and sparkling lemonade) and eating bbq potato chips, and watching the ball drop, live from the very spot we had been earlier that day in Times Square. It was the first time K & O stayed up until midnight on New Year’s Eve. Surely we’ll never be able to get them to sleep before midnight on NYE again.

2012 is going to be a big year for us. Lots on the horizon as we plan to set out on some brand new adventures and embark on new chapters to our story. Happy New Year!